Moose Jaw director of parks and recreation Derek Blais said recently that work on the Bert Hunt Arena dressing room addition has reached 90 per cent completion, after which construction will begin on the same at the Wally Boshuck Arena.
Meanwhile, the ongoing renovations to the Kinsmen Sportsplex changerooms and front desk area will likely be completed within the next month.
It’s all a run of good news for the projects, which have seen their share of turmoil brought on by the many restrictions and delays as the pandemic continues to run its course.
The Pla-Mor Palace improvements have been long coming. Each arena has four dressing rooms, which can accommodate teams playing games and preparing to play the following contest. That leaves no room for female players.
In fact, the only way the Bert Hunt was able address the issue was by turning a storage area without benches, ventilation, a washroom or showers into a makeshift dressing room.
The plan to build a dressing room in each arena was finalized in the 2020 budget, with the total cost coming in at $109,000 at the time. Top Line Construction from Moose Jaw was contracted to do the construction.
“It’s definitely been a work in progress,” Blais said. “It was a project that was identified a number of years ago but the costs were a lot higher than what we have them pegged at now.
We were originally looking to do a full dressing room outside the envelope of the building, which drove up the costs to get all the mechanical, plumbing and electrical in there. But we were able to find another space within and substantially reduce the cost and move forward with this.”
The new Bert Hunt dressing room is being constructed under the bleachers and will have all the necessary amenities, as will the new room in the Wally Boshuck, which is being put into a converted mechanical room.
All told, everything should be finished well in time for the 2021-22 season.
Of course, nothing is that easy in the era of COVID-19.
When both projects had to be delayed, it didn’t take long for costs to quickly rise. That led to additional funds being needed for the work at the Pla-Mor, to the tune of an extra $40,000
“We had the approval to get going and were just about ready to go for tender,” explained Blais. “Then the pandemic hit, and at that point we had to implement the financial measures, which meant this project was one that was put on hold. Once we got the approval to proceed again it was in the fall, but the lumber prices over that time had gone up substantially and we didn’t have the budget at that point.”
Fortunately, city council approved the increase, and did the same to the tune of $56,525 to finish off the Sportsplex work.
Improvements to local recreational facilities won’t end there, either.
The heat exchanger and boiler system at the Pla-Mor is also due to be replaced in the near future, and consulting work will soon begin for the replacement of the Pla-Mor roof — a project that will likely hit the million-dollar range.
“The amount of leaks we’ve had in the roof with the freeze-thaws has been substantial, so it’ll be nice to get that one done,” Blais said.
